Fire Without Flame
by demondreaming
Summary: From the moment Cassie arrived in town, she'd caught Faye's attention. And Faye couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like to work a little magic with the Blake girl. But there's more than one way to cast a spell. Mild Chamberlake. Rated T.


**Disclaimer: I do not own The Secret Circle. If I did, it'd probably be The Somewhat-Known-But-Sort-Of-Hush-Hush Trapezoid.**

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Fire without flame.

It was the first spell Faye tried on her own. She'd watched first with impatience, saying the words with increasing volume, and then softly with wonder at the suddenly boiling water on her stove. Pasta had never tasted so good before.

It was pretty straight forward. Most of the spells in Diana's little book were. The spell titles were nothing but simple descriptions. That is, until the words took on a new meaning for Faye.

The circle was finally complete. The Blake girl was in town. Faye knew as soon as the girl arrived there. She could feel the hum of power in her bones. She'd lay in bed that night, wiggling her fingers at the line of candles that sat squat along her dresser, making the flames flicker and dance. One out, one lit, one out, two lit. What was she going to say to the Blake girl? How would she get to her before Diana did, with all her talk of 'binding the circle'. Hell, that's if Diana would even tell the Blake girl who and what she really was. Faye knew she wasn't exactly nice, but at least she wasn't a bore like Diana. She knew she had what could politely be called a 'forceful' personality. It washed over everyone around her. Some of them couldn't keep their heads above the water, and they held it against her. She couldn't help it if she was just stronger than them.

When she saw the blonde girl at school the next day (and how could she not, the girl was throbbing with power), all prepared words dried up in her mouth. "You're pretty." It came almost as a shock. All this power coming from this petite blonde girl with apprehension in her eyes and clumsy fingers. Faye could practically feel their energy sparking and snapping together. It set a low burn in her belly. What would it be like to do magic with this girl, Cassie? But the blonde girl didn't even know she had powers.

She mulled on it during the day. Could Cassie really not know she was a witch? But then, none of them had known until Diana found her family's book. Faye hated that book. Or rather, the fact that is was Diana's. The brunette wouldn't even be game enough to try half the stuff in there. She was all about control, restriction, secrecy and safety. She stifled Faye, and if it wasn't for their shared bond of magic, Faye probably would've cast her aside by now.

When she saw Cassie clamber into her car, she just couldn't pass up the opportunity. That energy, that magic sparking against her was so delicious. What would it be like if Cassie actually put her mind to using it? That question had been answered with a satisfying _whumph _of flame. It'd hit Faye like a hot wind, when their energies whirled together. It made her more determined to get Cassie on her side. There was more than one kind of magic Faye could do.

Out of the whole circle, Faye was sure she'd experimented the most. She'd clawed at every possible nook or cranny when it came to doing magic. Anger seemed to work. So did fear. They both made it stronger, more immediate, more forceful. A few soft kisses with Melissa one drunken night had proven that lust works as well. There hadn't been a leaf left on the tree they stood under. Faye wondered which of these emotions she could use to sway Cassie.

She'd lay awake that night, that first night, Cassie's presence still rippling through her pond. She wasn't at all what Faye had been led to expect. She wasn't the meek pushover Faye had been hoping, nor the dangerous wild girl to rival her. She was something in between. A sleeping dog, if you will. Passive until you kicked it, then it was all teeth and raised hackles and low growls. When Faye barked at Diana, honey coating her poisonous words, Diana would grow cold, grow cautious. The way she did with everything. She was both too trusting and too remote, and maybe they tied together. Maybe Diana never really saw what was going on, or she was just stupid enough to hope for the best. But Cassie, she was more like Faye. She didn't look it, not with her sunny blonde hair and icy blue eyes, but Faye glimpsed the snarl in her lip, the clench in her hands. Cassie could be dangerous, if someone only cut her ties.

The girl was a firecracker though, and she burned Faye's hands more than once. No matter what she tried, no matter how smooth and sweet she made her voice, no matter how much her hands caressed the blonde girl, she remained resolute in her dislike. But at least she wasn't siding with Diana. Not yet, anyway. She was the one girl who didn't bow under Faye's pressure, and that was more than a little intriguing, more than a little frustrating. More than a little seductive.

The only thing Faye knew how to do was be the bad girl. Be the one to push the limits, to go that step too far. What else was the principal's daughter supposed to be? It made her giddy with excitement when it worked, sick with dread when it didn't. Diana never stopped her, even when she tried to. She was too hesitating, too weak. She'd been cowering as much as Faye when that storm rolled in. No, it was Cassie who'd shown her spine, who'd pushed her will against Faye's and won. And if she went up against Faye once, maybe she'd do it again. If she were only pushed far enough. The thought excited Faye. Finally, an equal. Finally, a challenge.

Sure enough, Cassie beat back Faye's little spars. Anger seemed to work well on the Blake girl. It was a pretty colour for her, and Faye dressed her in it whenever possible. But things had gone too far, as they usually did with Faye, and they'd both fallen into Diana's safety net, Faye the more reluctant to do so. Faye knew it was for the best, which is part of why she hated it. Doing the right thing was overrated. There's a reason it's never easy, and it's usually because you have to give something up to do it. That's how you knew it was the right thing. You came out feeling empty, but people smiled at you more. With Cassie around, Faye's little experiments, her little pushes and forays turned to stabs and plunges. There was too much power, and with Cassie around, Faye couldn't learn to control it. Something about the blonde girl stirred Faye. Not just her interest, not just her lust for power, but something warm and twisting in her belly, like she'd swallowed a slumbering snake, and it'd finally started to stir at the sight of it's prey. She'd never had an equal before, never had someone fight back against her domineering personality. They all gave in; they either avoided her, or meekly accepted whatever she said. But Cassie shrugged her off, fought fire with fire. Faye knew it was there, even if she couldn't see the flame.

Joining the Circle; it would strip everyone of their individual powers, for the most part. But Faye wondered if two could still cast spells. If all that was needed was contact with another in the Circle. If she could get Cassie... oh how satisfying that would be. To have someone to stand by her, and not crawl like Melissa did, not go tight-lipped like Diana did. It was an attractive thought.

As they stood in the Circle, chanting bleeding past Faye's ears as she shifted nervously, she thought anger wasn't the way to go anymore. Fear had never worked on Cassie. It was something she admired about the Blake girl. Maybe it was time to explore the third option.

Lust.

Her eyes skipped over each member of the group, before lingering on Cassie. Slim, open-faced, blonde-haired, blue-eyed Cassie. The more she tried to coerce Cassie, the more appealing this third option became. Someone she couldn't have. Someone she wanted. Everyone knows that bad girls do exactly what you say they can't do. And the thing Faye couldn't do was Cassie.

Faye smiled as Diana's chant came to an end, an expectant silence falling. She could feel the heat in her stomach, that fire without flame that was started by Cassie, sear her insides. She'd bond with Cassie alright. She'd make sure of it.

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**A/N: I know this is short (although probably not sweet), but it's the tentative first step into uneven ground (a new fandom), and hopefully my shoes are fancy enough (hopefully this is a decent fic).**

**But these are suede so I can't get them wet. **

**You know how much suede shoes cost?**

**Because I found these on a sleeping man, and they're full of fleas. How much can I sell them for?**

**Get me some crocs. Move on up in the world.**

**Fun fact: crocs make you more likely to have an escalator accident. True story.**

**Oh, and please review?**


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